La Bodega Says Base Price Increase Of 20% After 0% GST Was Due To Errors In Their Database
The outlet says they are sorry for any "heartaches caused due to billing issues."
By Sadho Ram — 02 Jun 2018, 01:06 PM
On Friday, a receipt from a restaurant in Bangsar comparing a breakfast meal before and after the zero-rated GST went viral
It showed that the La Bodega outlet in Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC) has increased the base food price by RM8.66 between 25 May to 1 June.
With the increase in base food price, the Big Breakfast meal, that cost a total RM51.70 on 25 May with 6% GST, now cost a total RM58.30 on 1 June despite 0% GST.
The increase in price by La Bodega at BSC on the day zero-rated GST was implemented across the country did not sit well with the restaurant's customers, who lambasted La Bodega for its "greed"
Facing huge backlash from customers, La Bodega then issued a statement saying that the increase in base food price was "errors in our database", apologosing for any "heartaches caused"
According to the statement posted on La Bodega's official Facebook page, the restaurant has been working on a system update. But there was a glitch in their database which eventually reflected the increased food price despite 0% GST.
"Please bear with us as we are working behind the scenes to sort out these system errors right now. In the meantime, any customers who have been affected by this glitch, please contact us directly by presenting your bill and we will make all necessary rectifications immediately," read the statement by La Bodega.
Additionally, The Star Online quoted its operations manager saying:
"It is a not an intentional price increase. What has happened is that we are building our system to abolish the 6% GST, but in the midst of that, a database from a different outlet had been updated here by mistake. We are trying to fix the problem."
Pandiam Balasubramaniam, the operations manager, told The Star Online that the system accidentally displayed the price menu from its outlet in Pavilion.
According to Pandiam, the food prices of its outlet in Pavillion differed compared to its other outlets in Telawi, Empire, and Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC).
In the meantime, officials from the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK) sprung into action the same day, paying the La Bodega outlet a visit to check on its pricing
Following the inspection, officials from KPDNKK said that they have seized La Bodega's menu book and receipt for further review and investigation.
The Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism has also issued the S21 Notice La Bodega to submit relevant documents to the KPDNKK office within 5 working days and give a clear explanation on the difference in prices.
Following the raid by KPDNKK, La Bodega issued another statement, saying they understand people's dissatisfaction and take "full responsibility for this issue that has escalated to a mass scale"